Stirred up
by illman
Summary: When Nigel Crane resurfaces, things are not as simple as they may seem. COMPLETE
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: The idea isn't very original, I know. I'm personally not happy with this story but decided to post it anyways. It was what I came up with whilst trying  to conclude "Wer sucht der findet". Feedback, good or bad, is appreciated.

"What do you mean you haven't been able to reach Nick?", Catherine's exasperated voice came over the line.

Sara didn't quite know what to answer.

"Well, he isn't at home and hasn't picked up his mobile. But he's on vacation..."

"Keep trying, call everyone who could know where to reach him. I'll be there in 10 minutes." Catherine hung up.

What had started at as a slow shift had turned into a frenzy in a matter a minutes. Grissom was out on a case, a DB in Henderson, probably a suicide. Catherine had her day off and Nick was on his second week of his yearly vacation. Sara and Warrick had been finishing up their last case at the lab. They had been busy with the reports when Brass had called them from the station. They had only now learned that Nigel Crane, the man who had stalked and assaulted Nick the previous year, had disappeared from the psychiatric institution where he had been locked up, two days ago. So far nobody knew how he had pulled it off, not had any trace of him been found. After listening to Brass complain about the bureaucratic idiots who were to blame for the fact that they had learned about Crane's mysterious escape only two days afterwards, Sara had called up Catherine.

Waiting for their colleagues to show up, Sara and Warrick were forced to wait around passively. Without having all the facts, there was nothing to could do.

"Did Nick tell you where he was going on vacation?"

"Not really, all I know is that he wanted to visit his family and a couple of old friends. He also wanted to do some hiking, depending on the weather. Should have asked him." Warrick sighed.

"I didn't even know that he had a vacation coming up. The week before it was very busy here with that fast-food restaurant robbery. "

"I'm going to find out the number of his folks, ask them whether he's been round yet. The fact that we can't reach Nick right now, doesn't have to mean anything. I mean, how would Crane even know where Nick was going."

Sara and Warrick both knew that he was just trying to avoid saying out loud what they feared might have happened to their friend.

Catherine got to CSI in record time. She had been home when Sara had called her. She was greeted by a very worried Warrick and Sara. She could see that they were entertaining the same dark thought that had been coursing through her mind ever since she had gotten the call. After getting fully up to speed on the detail, they deployed their plan of action. Brass had gotten the sheriff to get them on the case, so that they could have a look at Nigel Cranes cell at the mental institution where he had been incarcerated since his arrest. 

Warrick had wanted to join Sara and Catherine to the mental institute, but just when they were about to leave, PD had called in another DB, found in a field of the highway. He and Brass were going to work that case. Brass had gotten O'Reilly to accompany Sara and Catherine to the institution. On the phone Brass gave him the low-down of the case: A trucker had to stopped to relieve himself, had walked out into the field, when he had seen a skeletonized body, half-hidden under a plastic sheet. At scenes this old, a lot of evidence was always withered away by the elements. Brass was already on the scene.

"Hi Warrick. Not much to go on here. Just bones left, could have been out here for years without ever being discovered. David's looking at it now, but there isn't much left for him to look at."

Warrick made his way through the dry grass. About 30 feet in, formerly hidden behind grass that had now been trampled down, was a skeleton, next to a a black plastic sheet.

"From the first glace, I'd see head-shot. You see that bullet hole in the skull? If you look closely, you can see the bullet inside. Decomp is advanced, we are looking at several years probably."

"No residue of any clothes, shoes or anything. They would remain for several years if not decades, especially if they are made of synthetics. Nothing here, indicates that the vic was naked when they were either killed here or brought here. I'm going to take in that sheet, maybe we can still get something off it."

Warrick was frustrated. He felt he should be back at CSI working on the acute, possible situation with Nigel Crane, instead of standing out in a field working a case that had been cold for years. His experience told him that cases like this often went unsolved. Especially of the victim couldn't be IDed, they chances of ever finding the killer were slim.

On the ride Sara and Catherine were browsing the reports. Two days ago Nigel Crane had not been in for dinner. Nobody knew when exactly he had vanished. he had been there after lunch and for a crafts workshop in the afternoon. But then sometime before dinner he had been gone.

Although the name indicated a hospital, the building showed at first glanced that this was in fact a prison with all the typical security measures.

"Good Morning, I'm Dr. Erickson, we spoke on the phone earlier. I'm the director of the this institute."

"Good, morning, I'm Catherine Willows, this is Sara Sidle, Detective O'Reilly. Thank you for seeing us this quickly. I assume the institute has been checked for any security breaches?"

§Of course, this was the first thing we did once we knew that one of our patients was missing. We then reported the case to the police. We don't know yet how he could escape. But I understand that you have had dealings with Nigel Cranes before."

Yes, we were working the murder of Jane Galloway his victim. We would like to have a look at his cell and also have a few questions about his recent behaviour

I didn't have anything to do with Nigel Crane personally. I only know that upon request of the defence his ability to stand trial was assessed and he was found unfit, meaning he was unable to understand the proceedings and their consequences. If you need to know more about his specific case, you wile have to speak to his therapist, Dr. Kelly Sharp. She is very competent psychiatrist and will surely be ready and willing to help you with your investigation. She was having regular sessions with him and was assessing his ability to stand trial. A small percentage of our patients is eventually tried, but most remain here. the police has already talked to her, I think."

"I have read the report, we have  a few more questions."

"I'll join you there, Sara can you work the cell." O'Reilly divided up.

"Sure." 

Dr. Sharp's office was small, but very well organized. She was a woman in her early forties, who spoke in a soft, calm voice. She wasn't openly hostile, but her demeanour let them instantly know that she did not welcome police intervention.

"I told the police before that the doctor patient privilege prevents me from divulging any information about my sessions with Nigel Crane."

"Dr. Sharp, we are talking about a convicted murderer here. He might already gone after his next target. The life of one of my co-workers might be in danger. You can't afford your doctor patient privilege."

Dr. Sharp swallowed.

"All right. She said sourly. I'll try to answer your questions."

"Did he ever hint at any plans of escape, or wished to get out?

"No, he was slowly recovering form his total breakdown after the arrest. He suffered a severe identity crisis. He was unable to make any concrete plans for the future."

"Did he ever mention his victims?"

"He wasn't ready to talk about his crimes. After his breakdown he had completely detached himself from the past. Lately we started talking about Jane Galloway, but he has repressed most of the details about her murder. As you already now, two past assessments have shown that he remains incompetent to stand trial."

"During your sessions, did he mention Nick Stokes?"

"That is the officer he assaulted? I think I read his name in the file."

"Yes, he was obsessed with him and even wanted to become him. We think he might attack him again."

"He never mentioned him. But I don't see that much cause for concern. From what I can tell, Nigel Crane isn't capable of executing a detailed plan. He lacked the organizational skills."

"That didn't fit in with anything Catherine knew about the man. Nigel Crane had been diligent and well organized in his obsessive pursuit. He had kept an extensive repertoire of video tapes, both as a journal and from his observations about his victims."

"Well, Nigel Crane is obviously organized enough to hide for over two days, while the police is looking for him all over the city." Catherine's tone wasn't too friendly; it was obvious that she didn't really believe in the psychiatrist's assessment.

"I must say that lately he has been making remarkable progress. He started actively engaging in activities."

"What kind of activities?"

"Recreational and productive activities are part of the daily structure of most of our patients. Except for those exhibiting, you could say, extreme behavioural disturbances."

Catherine bit back a comment about what she thought what most people in there deserved. Recreational activities were not on that list.

"What was he doing specifically?" O'Reilly asked.

Nigel was working in the wood workshop. The patients are closely supervised during to activity and only those with a record of impeccable conduct are allowed to work there. Nigel had never displayed any violent conduct since he was admitted. I don't think that in his current condition, he is a danger to others.

Catherine thought that this assessment was overly naïve. After all Dr. Sharp must have plenty of experience with deranged criminal minds. She must know what they were capable of doing.

~~

Warrick hated to admit it, but he was actually glad that the crime scene in the field had yielded so little. He was back at CSI only two hours later. Decomposition of the body had progressed to far to conduct a normal autopsy; they would have to consult a forensic anthropologist to learn more about their victim. The request for the expert had been made, but it could take days. The lead was cold already, so a few days more would not matter much. The initial estimate was that the body had been in the field for mat least 3 years. Back at CSI Warrick got on the phone in order to trace Nick's vacation. First he tried Nick's cell again, but got no answer, then he decided to call Nick's family.

Having gotten the number from the personal files, Warrick got on the phone. Calls like that were touchy. He didn't want to make Nick's family to panic over nothing, but he didn't want to lie to them about the reason for his call. The early hour would already tell them that something was awry.  On his twelfth ring someone picked up.

"Yes" a tired male voice came over the line.

"Hi, this is Warrick Brown Las Vegas crime lab, I work with your son Nick."

"Did something happen to Nick?" alarm coloured the man's voice. Warrick had expected such a reaction.

"As far as we know, no. But we need to reach him. He said he wanted to visit his family during his vacation."

"He was here last week-end, he went on to visit on old school friend. I can give you the address. Are you sure that Nick is all right?"

"To be honest, we don't know. There is no indicative that anything might have happened to him," Warrick hated how this must sound, cruel and impersonal. "If you hear from Nick please call me back." Warrick gave Mr. Stokes his number and wrote down the address of Nick's old school friend. Andy Black.

Warrick tried calling Andy Black's number, but only got the answering machine. He left a message, then called Grissom. Grissom was about to wrap up things up at the scene, so they decided to meet at Nick's place to search for any clues there. Nigel Crane had a history of breaking into his victims' homes, so he might as well been to Nick's house again. After all he knew where Nick lived.

Warrick got the key from Nick's landlady. Grissom was nowhere to be seen, so he decided to go ahead alone. The front door was locked as was to be expected. Inside, it was all quite, at first glance nothing out of place, He had aske dthe landlady about the arrangement for Nick's mail and she had told him that she brought it in every two days. The stack of mail was on the kitchen counter. Warrick sorted through it.  An invoices, a letter from the bank, and a total of six unmarked letters,  then two each of the the last two days, two during the past week, since the start of Nick's vacation. Warrick hesitated opening Nick's mail, but he brushed aside the sentiment. The urgency of the situation overrode it. Whilst before he had been able to discount their fears as speculation which based itself on the sole fact that a man didn't answer his cell while on vacation. Warrick took to letter opener and sliced the first letter open. He was just about to unfold the thick white paper, when he thought he had felt a motion behind him. He instinctively spun around, the opener still in his hand.

~~

After their visit with Dr. Sharp, O'Reilly had had some questions to the security staff, but no new clues had come off it. Basically, Nigel Crane's evasion was a mystery. Sara met back with them. His cell had revealed nothing whatsoever, no pictures, writings, nothing personal at all. On the whole their visit had been a waste of time, they had gained no new insights into the mystery. Tired, as their shift had no extended well into the day, they dragged themselves back to CSI. The uncertain situation with disaster looming over them killed every thought of taking a longer break, as they knew that their thoughts would still be at work, worrying about what had happened. Catherine felt a sting of guilt, because once again, as so often before she was playing work over family. When the office phone rang, everyone tensed up, thinking about what they were about to learn.

"Yes?"

"Hi, Catherine, it's Nick."

"Thank God, are you ok Nick?"

"Yes, I'm okay, I heard what happened, Warrick left a message at a friend of mine, whom I was visiting.  I'm on my way right now. I should be at CSI in about an hour with traffic doesn't get worse."

"Take care. He could be out there looking for you already."

"I know."

Catherine hung up, significantly relived. Their worst expectations hadn't come to pass, at least not yet. She didn't quite understand why though. She had expected that Nigel Crane would continue to pursue his obsession once he got out. Maybe Dr. Sharp had been right. But that still left the question where he was now and how he had gotten out in the first place.

~~

Traffic had been as bad as ever. Grissom seemed to take half an eternity to get to Nick's house. He could see that Tahoe that Warrick had probably been driving was parked in the driveway. He parked in the street and go out of the car. The door was ajar. This struck Grissom as odd, not what Warrick would do? He got his gun out of the holster and carefully edged his way inside.

Note: It reads cheap, I know that. Well, my imagination didn't come up with something more elaborate. I've got most of it written out, so I should have it up pretty soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: Thanks for the wonderful reviews. Hope you enjoy this part as well.

Nick had trouble concentrating on the road in front of him, his thoughts kept returning to Nigel Crane. He told himself that he had no reason to worry, there was no way that Nigel could come after him here on the highway. For the past three days he had stayed with an old school friend, Andy who owned a successful sports gear shop near Phoenix . They had talked a lot about old times and during the week-end they had done a day hike. They had stayed up late. The world had been all right until Andy had listened to the messages on the answering machine. It had been Warrick, the last person whom he had expected to call him up on vacation. Nick had no clue how Warrick had even known where to find him. His decisions to go and see his friend had been rather spontaneous. When he had visited his parents in Texas he had met another friend who had told him about Andy. Nick had then called him up to chat and had promptly been invited to visit. They had had a lot of fun and Nick had started the day in a great mood, which was rapidly shattered when Andy had told him that someone from work had called him. Immediately a sense of foreboding had set in. While he was happy that everyone at worked was all right. Lost in his thoughts Nick almost slammed into the car in front of him, as it decelerated. That near miss catapulted him back to reality and he forced himself to concentrate on the road. It would be a bitter irony of Nigel Crane made him so nervous that he was going to get into a car accident. About half an hour more to go. He was hoping that once he was at CSI, would feel a little bit more at ease, but he already suspected that he wouldn't be able to properly relax until he knew that Nigel Crane wasn't go to be a threat to him or anyone else.

~~

Grissom's nerves had immediately tensed when he had spotted to door to Nick's house ajar. His weapons did nothing to make him feel safer, he hated the thought that he might have to use to for the very first time in his career. He carefully listed for any sounds from the inside, but heard nothing. He pushed up to door and glanced inside. His eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the dim interior. Before he even stepped inside, Grissom could see a slumped over figure by the kitchen counter. He couldn't see anyone else around, so, with his gun still raised, he stepped inside. Coming closer, he saw that the slumped figure was Warrick.

~~

Nick's nerves, which had been extremely tense ever since he knew what was going on, had just started to quiet down, once he had safely arrived at CSI, with no Nigel Crane in sight. He was starting to think that he had probably just overreacted, the memory of the attack two years ago still vivid in his mind. He was mad at himself for letting the mere memory of a dirtbag like Nigel Crane affect him like that. He had more power over him than he liked to admit. The extend of this influence was brought to his mind, when he caught himself carefully scanning the CSI parking lot for any suspicious figures hiding out. As he had expected nothing out of the ordinary was in sight. He just got out of the car, when Catherine and Sara came out of the building. Both were looking tense and worried.

"Nick, it's good to see you."

"You too Sara, Catherine. What's going on?" Nick was hoping that wasn't related to Nigel Crane, but it was.

"PD just called it in, there has been a burglary with assault at your address. Grissom and Warrick were going there, because we had no clue where you were. We're driving there now."

Nick was at a loss for words, as he felt himself being rapidly buried under an emotional avalanche. He didn't know how long he had been standing there, rooted to the spot, when he noticed Sara and Catherine staring at him. He could see that they were doubting whether he was up to anything right now. Nick took a deep breath and summoned up his determination. The sooner they could him, the sooner this nightmare was going to be over.

"Let's go then." He said with what he hoped was a firm voice.

When the arrived there, the ambulance was already parked in front of it. The first neighbours had come out of their houses to see what was going on.

Warrick was sitting on a chair in the living room, a paramedic tending to a gash on his head. Grissom was standing next to him.

"Hi" He greeted his co-workers. When he saw Nick coming in as well, he broke into a smile.

"Nick, glad that you're all right, man."

"What did he do to do, are you all right?" anger, bordering on rage filled Nick's voice.

Yes, I'm okay, he just pushed me and I hit my head on the counter, I guess. It's just a bump."

"It's more than a bump, Mr. Brown. You were unconscious at the time Mr Grissom found you."

"I was dazed." Warrick retorted

"Warrick you go the hospital. We need the medical report if this case ever goes to court. When you're done there, get to the station to give your official statement. Nick you go with Warrick, you shouldn't be on the case right now." Grissom's tone made it clear that it was an order. He felt that sending off Nick with Warrick was the best solution. He couldn't tell him to go home, since his house had turned into a crime scene.

"Catherine you better come with them. It's unlikely that Nigel Crane will try anything but better safe than sorry."

Catherine didn't look thrilled at the prospect of spending the better part of the day waiting around at hospital. This could easily turn into another one of those days when she didn't see her daughter awake. If she didn't love her job that much, she would have long quit it.

"Sara, you are with me here. We need to know how he got in and if he took anything. I assume you have searched the house?" Grissom turned to the uniformed officers who had been the first to arrive after he had called 911.

"Of course." The older of them replied.

"Okay, I'm going to start outside looking for a point of entry." Sara grabbed her kit and left. Outside, under the curious eye of the on-looking neighbours, she circled the house. Nothing looked out of place. Sara got to the backside of the house. Here it was evident how Nigel Crane had gotten inside the house. A broken window. Easy access point to the house. Not exactly smart of Nick to leave his windows largely unsecured. Well, she didn't do much better with her apartment. Not really expecting to find anything, Sara started dusting the window for prints. 

Inside, Grissom was looking through the living room. Even at a closer inspection, nothing seemed out of place. That confirmed his suspicion that this had not been a normal burglary. A burglar would have searched drawers for cash or other valuables. Nigel Crane would know what to look for, if he would even be after an object. He might have just came to Nick's house to further his fantasies.  The letters that Warrick had mentioned were gone. But the letter opener wasn't. There was blood on it, Warrick hadn't been cut, so there was a chance it belonged to the assailant. What else would Nigel Crane go after then? Nick's clothes, he had stolen these earlier. Would be difficult to tell whether anything was missing without Nick being there. What else? Cash, if Nigel had just gotten out he needed to eat and sleep somewhere, that cost money. Another item to ask Nick about. Nick's gun. Grissom had already checked all the drawers in the living room. Bedroom, the rest of the house, nothing. He could assume that Nigel Crane had both of Nick's gun, at least Grissom remembered Nick having a spare one.

~~

When Grissom came back to CSI, his mood was already sombre. When the receptionist told him that Sheriff Mobley had called, it didn't exactly improve. He had not the slightest desire to call him back, but he knew that putting the call off wasn't going to improve his mood or that of the sheriff.

It went as was to be expected.

"Grissom, about time you called me back."

"I was at a scene."

"I heard about it, one of your CSIs got knocked over the head. Did he see the attacker?"

"Not clearly, but we got some blood of the attacker, which we will run through CODIS, of course."

"When I gave permission for you to take a look at the institute and talk to the people there, I didn't mean you should stir up the entire case. But we can hardly undo that now, can we?"

Grissom said nothing, it was not like it was their fault that Warrick had run into Nigel Crane. He suspected that the main reason the sheriff was bothered, was that now, it was fairly inevitable that the public would learn that a mentally unstable, violent offender was on the loose and after more than two days they were still in the dark concerning his whereabouts.

"I have assigned Detective O'Reilly to work the case with you. The institute has offered its help, and we will take them up on their offer. Dr. Sharp, I believe you have met her, will work with you. She apparently has insight into Crane. She is going to meet you at CSI today. Meanwhile, I trust you are keeping Nick Stokes off the case. I have assigned an officer for his protection as well. As far as we know Nigel Crane hasn't left the state yet, but I have given out information to all the airports, major bus and train station. If he tried to get out of state, we will find him. Have you already determined how he is moving around?"

"No, not yet. We are checking car and bike thefts right now."

"Get back to work and keep me posted." The sheriff hung up.

~~

Catherine's suspicion had turned out to be true. The hospital visits was taking up the entire day. Because of a car pile up, they had waited for just over six hours. After the first hour, all attempts at conversation had stalled. Nick was gloomily staring ahead of himself, and had made it clear that he didn't want to talk. Not that Catherine couldn't understand that.  She didn't even want to image herself being in the same spot. Warrick was nursing a headache while he was trying not to show it.

Nick was turn between anger, guilt and, he had to admit it, fear. They know how dangerous Nigel Crane could be. The fact that he was obsessed with him, didn't change the fact that he might try to kill him. After all, Nigel had pushed him through a second story window and later the same day had pulled a gun on him. He was angry that this guy with no life of his own was disturbing him and his vacation and was not beyond hurting his friends. Just because of him. Even if Warrick was trying not to look it, Nick could see that he had a pretty intense headache.

Finally after Catherine's third diet coke, it was Warrick's turn.

"Hey Nick, you know it's not your fault." Catherine felt stupid the minute she had said it.

"I know, I know, but I just can't help feeling responsible. If I hadn't been unreachable, then you wouldn't have to have gone to my house and Warrick wouldn't have been it over the head."

"If anyone, it's Nigel Cranes fault."

"I know, and I've never been angrier before, I think. It's strange. I know that I would kill the guy if I had the chance and yet, I can't believe I could do it."

"Don't worry, everyone has been, I recall a few times, I was this close to killing Eddie" Catherine said, only half-joking.

"Well, you didn't do it." Nick answered sombrely. 

Another hour later, the three of them were finally good to go. Warrick had gotten some stitches for his gash and an official report of the injury.

"If it weren't for that stupid piece of paper, I wouldn't have waited around. Sorry, I know it has taken up your whole day." Warrick felt bad about having wasted the working day of three people just because he had been pushed against a counter. "let's get back to CSI and see what Grissom has come up with." He had wanted to suggest that they drop of Nick first, but the look on Nick's face told him that this wasn't a good idea at the time.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

At the lab, Sara and Grissom were processing evidence of a seemingly obvious event. The further they got the more their hopes of finding anything useful dwindled. It was starting to feel like a waste of precious time.

"Found anything yet, Sara?" Grissom asked.

Nothing we didn't expect. The glass was broken from the outside, smashed in probably with this stone. Sara pointed to a brick lying in a evidence bag on the table. 

According to Brass there is a construction site down the road, they are using bricks there, so he could have taken it there. But none of the workers saw a thing. I managed to secure a shoeprint in the garden. Looks like sneakers, but the computer is still running it through the database. What did you get?"

"The sheriff on the phone and Greg's report. Blood on the letter opener is Nigel Crane's. But since there was no blood on the floor, he probably has just a slight cut. His prints are all over the place. He wasn't concerned about us finding out that he was there."

"Which shows that he either is as mentally incompetent as his therapist claims, which I don't believe, or that there is only one way out for him. He was ready to kill himself before." What Sara was thinking but didn't put into words, was that Nigel Crane's suicidal plans probably included Nick as well.

"We have to talk to that psychiatrist again, the sheriff said she would be working with us and should come by here sometime today. I want to know more about the routine of the patients there, for example whether Nigel Crane was free to send mail. If he could so why would he only start mailing Nick now, he knew the address all along. We also need transcripts of his sessions with Dr. Sharp."

Sara could sense Grissom's determination to find Nigel Crane. Although Grissom was not someone who showed any emotions, he did care about what happened to the members of his team. He was troubled by the thought that a deranged stalker was possibly after one of his team members. In any other situation Sara would have at least inwardly smiled at the new insight into Grissom, but she too was filled with worry.

Dr. Sharps arrival did nothing to ease their worries. She seemed genuinely at a loss to explain what had happened. Her calm had dissipated and her voice was rather shrill as she sat in the briefing room with the now complete Nightshift, as Catherine, Warrick and Nick had finally come back from the hospital.

"I've hear what happened. Are you sure yet that Nigel Crane was involved?"

"Yes, we found his DNA and his fingerprints at the scene. There is no doubt about it."

"He has never exhibited any violence since he became a patient. But he had been on medication. Suddenly stopping could destabilize him further."

"What exactly was he on?"

"He was being treated with trifluoperazine which is used to treat both psychotic and anxiety neurosis. Especially in the beginning he was experiencing severe anxiety with was linked to his loss of identity. I still think that he wasn't planning on resorting to violence. Being interrupted must have triggered the reaction."

"Yeah, looks like it, I mean he only pushed me against the counter, he could have easily killed me when I was down." Warrick said, unable to hide his uneasiness. He was lucky and didn't know why. In the past, Nigel Crane hadn't shown himself so "kind" to his victims. Murder and a second story window were rather serious.

Grissom tried to defuse the awkward situation by asking another question:

"Are the patients allowed to make phone calls and send or receive mail?"

"Some patients have a list of approved contacts whom they can call regularly. Nigel Crane didn't have any. He refused any contact with his family, even though they tried several time. All outgoing and incoming mail is being screened. As far as I know, He never exchanged any mail, he only received a few letters form his family.

"Could it be that Nigel Crane has been manipulating you and other personnel? He couldn't have gotten out without outside help."

It was cleat what Catherine was implying. She simply put into words what all of them had been thinking. There had to bee someone who was helping him. 

"What are you saying? Do you think that we would let him escape knowingly? I have worked with Nigel for three years now, and I think I'm fully competent in making his behavioural assessment. I do not appreciate you suggesting otherwise." Dr. Sharp was exasperated at the notion. "I came here in goodwill and all you do is shift the blame to me?"

"Nobody is accusing anyone of anything yet. We are just exploring the possibilities." Warrick tried to defuse the situation, seeing that Grissom either wasn't aware of the imminent explosion or simply didn't think to prevent it. The last thing that Warrick wanted was a loud, counterproductive argument.

The feeling that the investigation was going nowhere was affected all their nerves. Everyone was rather edgy. Grissom had picked up on that now as well and decided that it was best to call it a day. More aggravation wouldn't help anyone.

"I'm going to stay and work on the transcripts. Nick, you go and take a hotel room, O'Reilly has gotten you two officers for protection. You're officially still on vacation, so I don't want to see you at work tomorrow. Warrick you go home and get some rest. Dr. Sharp, I suggest we sit back together tomorrow, in the meantime, if you think of something, please don't hesitate to call me"

"I'm staying. It will take you ages to work through all the transcripts alone." Sara was eager to put in for work. 

~~

Though tired, Nick couldn't even imagine going to sleep right now. His emotional turmoil had all but abated. The predominant fear that had initially struck him had now receded and made way to anger and determination. He could remember what Grissom had told him after they had arrested Nigel Crane two years ago, that Nigel Crane's obsession wasn't about him as a person.

Nonetheless, he took it personally. Nick could get Nigel out of his head. The thought that he had been in his apartment, again, made Nick nauseous. It had taken him weeks to feel comfortable at home after his attack. Right now, he didn't think he ever could get back there. But worse than the unshakable imagine in his mind where was the feeling of profound failure. Again, he was the victim, who was being pushed around by Nigel Crane, driving into hiding and fear by a madman. Nick hated the feeling of being totally powerless, his feelings and actions controlled by Nigel Crane, even though he was possibly hundreds of miles away. He was the ideal victim, easily scared and driven into submission. He, whose job it was the find evidence that nailed bastard like Nigel Crane. Nick let out a bitter laugh at the irony of it all. He had to do something, this time he wouldn't sit by the sideline. He knew where to go. Something he had already noted earlier that day was still present in his mind. He wasn't sure that it was the clue they were looking for, but it was an avenue worth pursuing.

~~

The arms of the clock were moving at an ever steady pace, indicating the change from day to night and eventually into early morning again. The were the only sign of passing time, aside from a period empting and refilling of coffee cups. Sara and Grissom were reading their way through to years worth of daily sessions, court assessments and police transcripts.

"There is nothing in here." Sara shut another folder. "I'm starting to think that this Dr. Sharp maybe was right after all, he's nuts. Hardly says anything and what he says his completely rubbish. Not a word about Nick or Jane Galloway, for that matter. Stuff about another patient who wasn't nice to him, that the pasta he had for dinner wasn't good, that he likes the wood workshop and sweets. It reads like he's a seven year old. Definitely not like he was even up to planning an escape." Sara was frustrating. They treading water, not going anywhere.

"Same here. It just doesn't fit. We have to look for someone else. He had to have some help. Someone who got out the letters, assuming they were his and someone who also helped him escape. He has to get cash and transportation from somewhere. I'd love to pill the financial records from all the employees at the institute, but we are never going to get a warrant for that."

"You are right you won't." O'Reilly and Catherine had just come in. "No stolen cars or thefts that would fit Nigel Crane. No one in the neighbourhood noticed anything suspicious. No motel or hotel has reservation in his name. It's like he broke into Stoke's house and then disappeared into thin air."

"That doesn't happen" Grissom simply said.

"Apparently it does, and according to the news it's our fault. The story is all over TV right now. Psychopath escaped and LVPD clueless, at least that's the gist of it. Panic creation at it's best"

"Well, I don't think he is a danger to the general public. He isn't a serial killer. He picks one victim, stalks him or her and only eventually strikes."

None of them answered, all the avenues they were normally pursuing at brought up dead ends. No clue how Nigel Crane had gotten or where he was going. They were running out of ideas. They all knew that this occasionally happened. Some fugitives were never captured. As long as Nigel Crane didn't get involved in a crime, he had good chances of remaining undetected indefinitely. He had escaped over three days ago now. The odds were starting to tip in his favour. Grissom knew that without another crime, Nigel Crane would probably remain free, a thought which he hated, but he wasn't rooting for another crime, either. His personal assessment of Nigel Crane and his obsession told him that he would not be able to carry on like a normal person. Sooner or later his obsession would surface again, driving him to stalk and kill. Their best bet was that he wasn't over Nick yet, why else would he have returned to Nick's apartment, stolen clothes and a gun.

The ringing of O'Reilly's cell interrupted his thought. O'Reilly answered.

"O'Reilly here." He then listed.

"No, of course not. You stay right where you are. Did he say anything? Was anyone with him?"

Another pause, longer this time.

"How could you not go with him?!  You know what police protection means? I don't think so. We'll be right there." O'Reilly was infuriated.

Catherine and Grissom expectantly looked at him. Both knew that something bad had just happened.

"The door guards from Nick's hotel. They wanted to know whether to could  return to the PD. Turns out that around 11pm last night,  Nick told them he was going to work at CSI. Of course none of them thought to come with him. "

"11 pm, that was over six hours ago." Catherine checked her watch. She didn't add the logical conclusion form this. Six hours was a long time, during which a lot could have happened to Nick. She knew that he might already be dead. But she couldn't afford that assumption. They had to do everything they could under the premises that Nick was still alive.

"I told him to stay put." Grissom said.

"It was obvious that he couldn't stay away from the case. Telling him to stay out was a waste of time." Catherine snapped. She was more aggressive than she wanted to. Worry, lack of sleep and a guilty conscience as a mother had triggered her anger.

"I'm sorry. If Nigel does have Nick, we have to stay focussed on the case. Every minute could count."

Note: Thanks for all the great reviews for the previous chapters. Hope you liked this one, even though I know the ending isn't very nice ;). Next chapter is written already, it just needs finishing touches, I'll probably be done with it by tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: I've done it; I managed to actually get the chapter up, as I promised. Enjoy and don't forget to review ;)

The officers were waiting in the corridor in front of nick's hotel room. Both were wearing uncomfortable expressions. They knew that they had screwed up and were in trouble now. They seemed to shrink further when O'Reilly approached them, Catherine, Grissom and Sara in tow. Warrick was still home, nursing his headache. While O'Reilly went to grill the two uniformed officers, the CSIs went inside the room.

The hotel room, showed no sign of any disturbance, the bed hadn't been used. Nothing suspicious. Nick had clearly left voluntarily. That confirmed the story of the guards that nobody had been to see him. Nick's duffel back was still lying next to the bed. Catherine sorted through it.

"No wallet in here either. He must have taken it with him."

"His car too." O'Reilly just came back up from the garage. "The garage attendant keeps log of all cars arriving and leaving. Nick left shortly after 11pm. He was alone, according to the attendant. He didn't remember anything else about him."

"We need that psychiatrist back here. Her assessment might have been wrong, but still she knows Nigel Crane better than anyone else we know."

"Already had someone call her, nobody picked up." O'Reilly said.

"I think we should drive by her place then. If Nigel Crane perceives her a threat because she is working with us, he might as well be after her. He could use her to put Nick under pressure and get him to play along with whatever he wants."

"Okay, you coming with me?"

"Yes. Sara and Catherine, you examine every inch of the room here."

They nodded and went back to work in silence.

"What wrong Catherine? You've been standing here for 10 minutes staring out the window." Sara asked.

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking back to something Nick said yesterday. He told me that given the chance he would kill Nigel Crane. I just hope he doesn't make a mistake."

"Nick couldn't kill Nigel. He's too much of a good guy." Sara was convinced. Yet a small voice inside her head had its doubts. On the job, she saw what human beings were capable off. She had seen "normal" people kill others in gruesome ways. It wasn't just drug addicts, psychopaths and hardened criminals who killed. No, friends, spouses and co-workers who had always seemed upstanding citizens killed their friends, lovers and co-workers. There were no assurances when dealing with people. But Sara wasn't willing entertain the thought about Nick's possible involvement in any crimes just yet.

While the processing of the hotel room yielded no additional information, 

Dr Sharp lived at a quiet apartment complex in Henderson. 

"Kelly Sharp, 41 years old, divorced for 8 years now. One son, he lives with the father in Delaware." O'Reilly rattled of as little as he knew. AS they had already expected, nobody answered the door. Having gotten the key from the manager, who had readily given it to them, when he heard that Dr. Sharp's safety might be threatened. At first glance noting looked out of the ordinary. Her house was as organized as her office.

"No signs of a struggle or break-in. I don't see any purse or wallet. Nothing to indicate that she didn't leave voluntarily." Grissom commented after having looked around the apartment. "But she was having company. Two used glasses on the couch table. " Grissom took one of the glasses and sniffed in the hopes of figuring out what had been in it. "Water, probably." Grissom would have liked to bag the glasses and their contents to take with them to the lab, but he knew that at the moment, they didn't have the legal base for that.

O'Reilly was meanwhile sifting through the contents of the desk in the study.

"Hey, Grissom. This is strange. There is almost nothing in there. No photographs, letters, invoice, bank statements, noting expect for a pencil sharpener and an empty notebook."

"She is very well organized, maybe she keeps these things at her office. Does this apartment complex have a parking garage? I think that Dr. Sharp had a guest and left with him or her. I want to know where her car is."

"No problem, we can check with the manager."

It turned out that Dr. Sharp's car was where it should be, in the garage.  Both of them were slightly disappointed. Another dead end. There was nothing to indicate that anything was amiss. An adult spending a night away from home was not a crime. As long as nobody reported her missing and she was not wanted for questioning, there was nothing they could do. Officially there was no case here. They were just about to leave, when O'Reilly got a call from LVPD. They had a case again. But it was none that they wished to have. The owner of a motel had heard gunshots followed by a car speeding away. When he had checked out the source of the disturbance, he had found a body.

Both O'Reilly and Grissom knew what that could mean. It could be totally unrelated, but the description, while it was quite imprecise did fit Nick. Grissom had never felt that tense on his way to a scene. He fervently hoped it wasn't the second CSI who was killed. He had known that eventually Nigel Crane would kill Nick, but he had hoped for a longer window of time. Much time had already been lost, as they had learned about Nick being gone only six hours after the fact. Now he was en route to the motel tensely waiting either relief or … or, Grissom didn't know how he would and should react to Nick's death. He would probably fall back on personal condemnation for failing to solve the puzzle before it was too late. After he had called Catherine and Sara, he spent the rest of the drive in silence.

The motel was at the side of I-35.  It was one of those cheap places were people came to cheat on their spouses, sell drug or get murdered. During his work as a CSI Grissom had seen his share of this kind of motel. What was inside was never pleasant, but few scenes had given him such an ill feeling before having encountered them. Catherine and Sara had gotten there just before him. They didn't say anything but their thoughts were fairly obvious. All of them where thinking about what they might find inside.

Relief flooded all of tem when they finally hot to look at the body lying by the window of the motel room. Relief was followed by puzzlement. The body lying on the floor of the motel room was clearly not Nick's, it was Nigel Crane's, shot in the chest. No Trace of Nick.

As every crime scene this room was speaking to them, it spoke of something horrible having happened. Bullet holes in the walls, blood on the cheap grey carpet. A blood trail let out into the parking lot.

Detective O'Reilly was out questioning the other patrons about what they had witnesses.

While Grissom was taking in the room in as much detail as he could, he heard a familiar, but not friendly voice from behind. He turned around and saw Ecklie, looking inappropriately happy.

"I thought I would meet you here Grissom. But remember this is my case. I'm running the investigation here. Go back to the lab, you might want to look at some applications for a new CSI." Ecklie was oozing with glee.

"There is no proof that Nick was involved in this, you know that Ecklie." Grissom sternly reminded him.

"What I know is that Stokes had good reason to kill Nigel Crane and that now that Nigel Crane is dead, Stokes has gone incommunicado. I think that tells us quite a bit, especially since he left voluntarily."

Grissom knew that an argument was futile, so he retreated. Ecklie already had Nick had Nick in mind as the culprit. Meanwhile the nightshift had other cases to work on, other killers to find.

~~

Nightshift had no choice, but to go back to these other cases.

Word about Nigel Crane's murder was all over to CSI lab. Few people actually thought that Nick would kill anyone, expect in self-defence, but the evidence was sure pointing in that direction. Everyone whether they were working the case or not knew what was going on. Within 20 minutes of Bobby Dawson's report, everyone knew that the bullet from Nigel Crane's body matched Nick's gun. 

Grissom had retreated to his office in the hopes of getting a chance to mentally sort out the given information, when the sheriff called him again.

"Morning Grissom, I just heard that your case got out of hand. IAB will be investigating the case from now on. I expect you to comply with Detective Mahon."

"I will" Grissom assured the sheriff, already seeing the conflict of interest looming.

"Keep your people out of this. For now, we have kept it out of the media, but we can't keep that up forever. The evidence is sufficient to issue a warrant for Nick Stokes. It's just a matter of time." Grissom did detect a twinge of regret in the sheriff's voice, he wasn't sure whether it was because he was genuinely unhappy about having to arrest someone who had worked with the police, or whether he was just worried about the bad publicity a murderous law enforcement employee would generate.

Just after he had gotten off the phone with Sheriff Mobley, the aforementioned IAB investigator, Detective Mahon was already knocking on his door.

"Mr Grissom, I need the have a look at your records about Nick Stokes." Detective Mahon got to the subject without bother with the false niceties.

"What for?"

This morning, the DA has issued a warrant; he is being sought for the murder of Nigel Crane. We need to files to determine possible hiding places.

What we have is enough. His DNA at the scene, his gun was used, the tire tracks in front of the building match the model of his car, an eye witness saw a man matching his description get out of the car in front of the motel where Crane was killed.

This only proves that he was at the scene, not that he killed him. The tire tracks could belong to any number of cars.

Let's be realistic Mr Grissom. In any other case, this would be enough, even for you. You even have a motive. Mr. Stokes did threaten to kill Nigel Crane if he had the chance. Now, cold you please get my the files?" Detective Mahon made it clear that he was in charge. Grissom had no choice but to comply.

~~

The team, minus Nick of course was assembled in the break room. Even Warrick had gotten back to CSI.  They had all heard about Grissom's exchange with the IAB guy. Sara had taken the initiative. She firmly believed that Nick wasn't up to kill anyone, expect in self-defence.

"We don't know what has happened between 11pm last night and this morning. There are several possibilities, the evidence will tell us with which one we are dealing." Sara laid out what they knew so far.

"Which possibilities are you talking about?" Catherine asked.

"First there are two possibilities: Nick did kill Nigel Crane or he did not kill Nigel Crane. If the first is the case, we have to determine to circumstances, of the latter is the case, and we have to find who did it. In both cases we have to find out where Nick is right now. Officially we are not investigating that case, IAB and dayshift are, so whatever we do we have to do it discretely. We can't go back to the scene, but we can have a look at the pictures. I'm going to do that."

"I'm going to go back to the institute, finding whoever helped him could be the key to this. Who knows, maybe he wasn't working alone. That would explain why we haven't heard from Nick yet. Nigel Crane wouldn't be the first lunatic who finds a partner in jail. I'm going to go over the names of people that were recently released or used to work at the institute."

"You're going to need someone from the police, otherwise, they'll probably just stonewall." Sara had obviously been thinking about this before.

"Yes, I thought about that. I'm working this case with Brass right now. It's going nowhere. I'm sure he'll help me out with it." Warrick said.

"While you play in the field, I'm going to work my charms on Greg and Doc Robbins to get copies of the reports." Catherine said with a slight smile.

"You know that you are way out of line on this one. Whatever you do, remember stick to the evidence, it's all we have. If there is evidence that Nick is innocent you'll find it. But if the evidence says he did, that's what you are going to find and report." Grissom's words sounded harsh.

All, but Warrick, left the meeting sombre, but filled with new energy. It wasn't the happy or joyous kind, but a grim determination to uncover the truth. It gave them hope and the feeling of being able to do something, instead of standing by the sidelines as a friend was being convicted of murder. Warrick stayed behind.

"Grissom, I'd like to have a word with you."

"Sure, what's it."

"What do you think about this Grissom?"

"What do you mean? It's a case, it doesn't mater what I think."

"I think it does matter. We have feelings linked to this case, denying that they exists doesn't make them go away. None of us believes that Nick is guilty of murder, but you just sat here and didn't say a word, like you could just assume that Nick did kill Nigel Crane."

"Everyone can kill. None of us is an exception. If you look at well-known cases of serial murders, in most cases, all their acquaintances describe them as pleasant and quiet people. I think that Nick could have killed Nigel Crane. I don't like the idea any more than you do. But if that's the case, then we can't change that. Our job is to find the evidence, all the evidence nothing more and nothing less. I don't want to see anyone else professionally ruined because of this case. It's well within Ecklie's right to lodge an official complaint if you interfere with his investigation.

"I never thought, I'd hear that from you, Grissom. Since when do you care about professional consequences? It's Nick we are talking about here. I guess you are right, we don't know those around us. I definitely didn't know you as well as I thought I did." With that Warrick left.

Grissom was left sitting in the break room alone. He had not expected this confrontation. And as much as he hated to, he had to admit that Warrick was right in some ways. It was unlike him that he put his career in front of his people. But he couldn't help the feeling that their meddling in this case might just be a mistake. While he had stood up to the IAB guy, it was something different to actually interfere with another CSI's investigation. And while he thoroughly disliked Ecklie, he couldn't deny that he knew how to conduct an investigation. The things, which in his opinion set them apart the moist was bias. Ecklie was open to it, usually in the name of his career. Grissom wanted to avoid this mistake. This was part of the reason he wanted to stay out of the investigation now. Getting involved in it, would mean giving way to bias, in spite if his best intentions. Anger had been colouring Warrick's words, but he had a point. Grissom sighed. He had wanted to stay out of this case with the best of intentions, but as they said, the road to hell was paved with them. Nick was trying hard; too hard it seemed, to be a good CSI. He owed it to him to help the others in clearing Nick's name before he was arrested. An arrest even if Nick turned out to be innocent later on would lead to his dismissal from CSI. He was going to join the rest of his team. Grissom got up.

Two hours later, Grissom was examining the pictures that Ecklie's crew had taken in the motel room.

Grissom, you got a minute, it was Catherine standing in the doorframe.

Sure.

"I've got the reports. DNA, Doc Robin's report and the evidence list. No chance getting the trace report from Hodges. But I'm sure he would be happy to give it to you."

"Uh", Grissom was puzzled. "What did you find?"

"Not much. But there was something interesting. According to Doc Robbins' report Nigel Crane was shot in the chest at an upward angle. The shot wasn't immediately fatal, he slowly bled to death. At first I was thinking struggle, things getting out of hand, but then he wrote that the shooter was at least 5 feet away from Nigel Crane. I input that into the ballistic simulation software. At the given distance and angle, our shooter is about 5"5 tall. Nick's what 5"11, something like that?"

"Interesting. Look at the wall. 3 Bullet holes. Bad aim. Also there is one bullet that hit at wall, just a few inches above the floor. The shooter wasn't aiming at Nigel Crane here. They were aiming at a third person."

"Nick has been trained to handle a gun. Catherine pointed out what they both knew. 

What does DNA say?"

"The DNA under Nigel's fingernails is Nicks, so he did struggle with him. The blood in the clothes is Nigel's, but Greg did good work, I didn't even have to ask for a copy of the report. He swabbed all blood spots on the shirt and found Nick's blood on it as well. The blood trail we found is from Nick, as is the blood on the handprint. The prints are his. He wanted us to know that he was there. He didn't kill him."

"No, according to the evidence he didn't and he wasn't alone." Relief showed trough Grissom's voice, in spite of his effort to keep the emotions out of it.

Look at the picture of the room. Nigel Crane was sitting next to the TV; he was hit in the chest, while facing to window. The shooter must have stood between him and the window. The blood trail from Nick starts at the bed. The largest pool of it is there. Indicating that he was injured and at first didn't move. Had he moved to the window, there would be blood there as well? We are looking for someone, 5"5 tall and not an experienced shooter."

"If Nick has been injured than he night need medical help within the next few hours. Greg should test the bullets from the wall for residues of blood. If we find Nick's DNA on one of them, we can prove that he was shot. That would go a long way towards clearing him or at least proving self-defence. This should be enough for the DA to retract the warrant for murder. Problem is that since it's not our case we can't officially intervene. Someone need to talk to Ecklie about this"

Grissom spread the pictures from the room on the desk. He closely looked at each on of them, not saying anything. Catherine watched him intently.

"What are you looking for?"

"I'm trying to estimate the amount of blood he lost. That will give us an indication of the type of wound and about his next step. Look, there is a rather significant blood pool in the bed. The wound must have bleed strongly." Catherine wondered how coldly Grissom could talk about a co-worker and friend nearly bleeding to death.

"The trail is thin, only spots. I'm thinking that circulation to the wound was restricted, to prevent bleeding."

"That would mean we are dealing with an arm or a leg injury." Catherine shuddered at the thought that Nick might be bleeding to death right now. She couldn't fully understand Grissom's detachment. Either he was truly lacking empathy in that regard or it served as an elaborate, long practised defence mechanism.

"I think I should go talk to Ecklie." Catherine got up.

Catherine met Ecklie in the corridor. "Ecklie, I need a word with you. It's about Nick."

"I thought as much. Listen, it's my case."

"I know and I respect that. But please, just listen for one minute." Catherine hated to beg, but if it was going to work, she was all for it.

"I'm listening."

"I took the liberty to use to data from the autopsy report and recreate the shooting using the ballistics software. This is what I got." She handed Ecklie the printout, showing the extrapolated position and height of the shooter. Ecklie didn't say anything.

"I also looked at the blood pattern on the floor. Nick was probably shot while sitting on the bed. He stayed there for some time before he left. Look, I'm not saying that Nick wasn't somehow involved in that, but I think we know that he didn't commit murder"

While Ecklie was certainly very driven and open to occasional bias, he knew evidence when he saw it. 

"Okay, I'm calling the DA about the warrant."

Note: Thank for getting this far. I know there was a lot in there. Next chapter, which focuses on Nick's perspective of the events, should be done by tomorrow night. 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: Just wanted to thank you for all the great reviews. Something got messed up with the last chapter when posting, I hope this one  works. Also worth mentioning that this chapter contain some spoilers for "Who are you?" (well and spoilers for "Stalker", but that's a given) Enjoy and don't forget to review ;)

Nick was in a world of pain. He knew that he was running out of time. Sooner or later, Dr. Sharp would kill him too, if he didn't bleed to death first, on the passenger seat of his own car.  Though crudely bandaged, his wound continued to bleed and would eventually lead to hypovolaemic shock.

Yesterday night, he had thought that his life couldn't get much worse. This had obviously been an error on his part. Now he was in real trouble, being under guard in a nice hotel room was a walk on the beach by comparison.  He had gone over the day thousand of times when suddenly it had hit him. It was not really a logical conclusion, more like a hunch, a feeling. The way that Kelly Sharp had reacted when they had figured out that she was wrong about Nigel Crane's violent tendencies, it had been more than anger at having made a professional mistake. She had taken the whole thing personally. Of course this could be just the way she worked, but Nick had just gotten the impression that she had a reason to take it personally. In a way she had reacted in a fashion similar to his own. He too took Nigel Crane personally. He had had no idea why Dr. Sharp had personal issues with Nigel Crane, but he had suspected that there was something she knew and wasn't telling them. His hunch and the feeling of being caged in the hotel room, had prompted him to go and visit Dr. Sharp. What had been a bad idea based on a hunch, had turned into a major error in judgment.

It had all started out as a friendly conversation and Nick had already started to dismiss his hunch as a result of overly tense nerves, when things had started going wrong. He didn't know whether he had asked the wrong question or whether had he acted any differently Dr. Sharp wouldn't have suddenly pulled a gun on him. In the first moment he had not really understood what was happenings because it had come utterly unexpected for him. He had expected many thing, denial, anger, her kicking him out or even calling the police, but not this. In spite of her emotional display at CSI, he had gotten the impression that she was a rational, knowledgeable professional. In his memory it seemed like he had stared at the barrel of the gun for ages, but in reality it had probably been just a few seconds, during which his mind had flashed back to an earlier, in an eerie way similar incident. Then, when he had least suspected it, a woman, whom he had considered merely the wife of a killer had pulled a gun on him, revealing that in fact it was her who had murdered her husband's mistress. Just like then, Dr. Sharp's actions had confirmed his hunch in a way he had not wished for.

"We are leaving. You know how this works, don't talk, act normal, nobody gets hurt" Her choice of words were signs of confidence but the tremble in her voice negated that impression. Nick could tell that she was scared of herself. She had crossed the first line and she knew it. Every day she worked with people who had crossed every line imaginable to the normal mind. Kelly Sharp knew that so often, there was no turning back. Everyone had started out small, torturing small animals, setting fires, beating up other kids. Kelly Sharp knew where that could end.

Literally afraid for his life, Nick had complied, without asking any questions, for fear of making matters worse. The memory of the drive was all in a haze. They had sped past neon sign, away from the city, onto the highways. Nick had  desperately tried to concentrate in their route, knowing it might be important later on, but his thoughts had invariably returned to playing with possible scenarios, one grimmer than the other. They had finally come to a halt in the gravel parking lot of a dingy motel. The perfect place to kills someone, he remembered thinking as Dr. Sharp had pushed him out of the car. They had headed straight for a room at the far end. Dr. Sharp had knocked, announcing that it was her, then she had used her key to open to door. 

What awaited them inside confirmed Nick's worst fears. Nigel Crane, the man he had never hoped to see again was standing in the doorway, looking at them with interest.

"I thought we had an agreement Nigel, you wouldn't do anything. You said you were fine." Kelly Sharp had begun in anger, but by mid-sentence it had made way to disappointment and sadness.

"Come in and we can talk. You know I could never let go. I can't disappoint Nick." While he was talking, Nigel Crane took the gun from Kelly's hand with one swift, smooth motion. "I didn't expect you to see here." Nigel's tone had turned cold.

"I'm sorry, he knew it all. I didn't know what to do, so I thought it was best to bring him here." Dr. Sharp had gone from being the aggressor to the victim, having to justify herself at gunpoint.

"That's good, not what I had in mind, but very good. Nick's very smart, you should have know he'd figure you out." His tone was chiding, as if Dr. Sharp was s small child. The entire scene was just too bizarre. If it hadn't been that serious, Nick would have laughed. But he was right in the middle of it. Nigel turned in his direction, a big grin spreading over his face. His voice was now soft, the anger gone.

"Finally, we are together again Nick. I still have so many questions, since we were cut short the last time we spoke. But don't worry, I'm no longer mad at you. At fist I was really angry that you had let them arrest me and then when you never wrote me or came to visits, I became very sad. They told me that I was depressed and gave me medication for it. For a while I couldn't concentrate. I didn't think about you as often as I should have. But now, it's all ok. Why don't you sit down Nick? It's so uncomfortable with you just standing there."

Nick's mind was racing, what should he do? Play along and hope that it would by him enough time? Try to resists and alert someone? He knew that talking Nigel Crane out of his plans would be futile. Resistance? In a place like that the chances were slim that people cared about their neighbour screaming. Besides, Nigel was the one with the gun. So Nick decided to play along for now, it was the safest route to take if he wanted to get out of it all alive. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Kelly, why don't you get us something to eat. Nick looks like he could use something. Had a long day at work Nick?" Kelly Sharp left without another word, leaving Nick to wonder what she was going to do. Would she flee, call the cops or play along. Nigel didn't seem to worry about her in the slightest.

"Yes, in fact I did" His own voice sounded foreign to him. "Now, what did you want to ask me about?"

"Not so hasty Nick, we still have got some time. First I want to tell you that I'm sorry, I pushed your friend against that counter. I hope he's going to be fine, he hate to worry you."

"He's all right." Nick had to fight back to urge to just try to smack Nigel over the head. Common sense and the sight of a gun dissuaded him.

It was then that Nick realized that Grissom had been right, it wasn't about him, Nigel was as egocentric as everyone. Kelly Sharp come back in. She had actually bought some sandwiches. Her frightened look at been replaced by something that Nick couldn't quite read, resignation maybe. She put the sandwiches on the table.

"Why don't you take one? You look like you could use it."

"I'm not really hungry. I'm sorry."

"Is something wrong. You look very tense." Nigel asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"I'm just a bit nervous. The gun, it's making me nervous."

"You promise to stay?"

"I do." Nick actually meant it. He was just trying to prevent from Nigel firing the gun impulsively. If he had to reach for it first, it would buy him some time.

"It's enough" Kelly Sharp's voice came from behind them. Both Nick's and Nigel's attention shifted to her.

Kelly Sharp had picked up the gun that Nigel had put down just seconds earlier.

"Don't move, both of you." She kept the gun drawn on them while she rummaged through the bedside table's drawers. She pulled out a second gun. It was Nick's spare gun, which Nigel had apparently stolen when he had broken into Nick's house earlier. She tossed it to Nick.

"Take it. Shot him" Nick didn't move. He was too stunned. He had thought that Nigel was the real threat, but now he saw that his chances with Nigel would have been a lot better. But at least there was hope of reasoning with her. She might not yet be beyond reason.

"Why? You could call the police. It will all be over then, you haven't harmed anyone yet. It's not to late."

"I know the system. It doesn't work. I see that every day. The wrong people get locked away and those who do, it's hopeless anyways. I thought I was better, I thought I knew the people I work with. But it turns out, I'm just as clueless." She laughed bitterly, while crying out the same time.

"Please, just put the gun down." Nick was starting to panic.

"I can't. It's part of all of us. There is no use in denying it. You know what human being are capable of. Monsters like him" She motioned at Nigel, who stood transfixed, not having expected the sudden reversal of his plan. "They never get tried, they just stay looked away, pretending to be to ill to understand what they have done." It was clear that she was speaking from personal disappointed. Nigel Crane had obviously manipulated her into helping him out.

"For the last time, take the gun and kill him. It's revenge and justice in one."

Nick didn't budge. Even if he had wanted to he couldn't. he couldn't take up the gun and shot an unarmed man. It didn't matter that it would be ruled as self-defence. He couldn't commit murder. His hands started shaking.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Nick hated himself for it.

A gunshot tore through the air, the explosion of noise momentarily deafening Nick. 

"No" Nigel screamed. More gunshots.

Nick was puzzled for a second. He had felt a jerk in his arm, which was then followed by a never ending wave of intense pain. He looked down at himself. It was strange. Blood was spilling from his arm unto his pants and the bed. The arm didn't seem to be his. He looked up. Nigel Crane was lying by the window. Blood all over his chest. He wasn't dead, he was looking up at Nick, he lips still moving, but no sound was coming from them. Nick turned his head to the other side. Kelly Sharp stood there gun in hand, momentarily frozen in shock. But she recovered quickly, having taken in the altered situation. She must be aware that the sound of gunfire would alert someone. She went over and grabbed the gun still lying on the bed. Nick only then realized that he would have had a window to defend himself, but somehow is mind seemed to have slowed down, pain taking up most of his capacity for thought. 

"Get up, quickly, we are leaving." She grabbed her purse and forced him outside and into his own car. She got in on the driver's side and sped away.

About a mile after the motel, they had stopped quickly and Kelly Sharp had taken a scarf from her purse to tie of his arm. 

Nick wondered why she had done that. Ultimately he knew that he was a liability having witnessed that crime. If she was going to kill him, she could just let him bleed to death, without committing another direct murder. She knew enough about the law to know that it made a difference between her shooting him just to incapacitate him and he died later as a result of the injure or shooting him with the intent to kill. At first, when she had pulled the gun back in the motel room, he had thought that she was going to kill him. He had been too scared to move, which might have been a good thing. Him trying to get away might just have provoked her into shooting him in the back or another vital spot.

She had not planned to shoot Nigel Crane. It had been almost an accident. A variety of factors, all of which he didn't understand yet, had contributed to it. Disillusionment, some kind of attraction to Nigel Crane, and feeling betrayed. Kelly Sharp was a cornered woman, whatever plans she might have had, they had been thrown for a loop. Now she was a murder and kidnapper on the run. She had nowhere to go. By now police was probably looking for her already. If not as a killer at least as a victim. For the past couple of hours, she had said nothing, all she had done was keep her eyes fixed on the road and drive. Not to slowly, but not fast enough to attracted attention, as Nick had hoped initially. If he was honest, it had not been only hope, a big part of him and been afraid. He was afraid that they might be stopped, afraid that Kelly Sharp might overreact and kill him. That was the chief reason he had not made a solid attempt at getting away. Nick hated himself for it. He had thought that now, as an adult, he would no longer by a helpless victim, unable and paralysed by fear. But it was no different. About two hours after their departure from the motel, Dr. Sharp had pulled over in front of a drugstore, to get bandages and painkillers. She had left him in the car, parked at the far end of the parking lot, way from any other customers. He could have at least tried to smash the window of the car, but he hadn't. He had sat there and waited impassively for her to come back.

The fact that she had bought painkillers and bandages was another indicator that her motivation was not to kill. She knew that his condition was deteriorating fast. Her fear and probably also the shock about what she had been capable of doing prevented her from giving up  and surrendering herself to the police. Nick had mentioned, making a feeble attempt to talk her into it, but she had immediately aimed the gun at him again.

Once the painkiller had kicked in his mind had started to clear  a bit, and he had been able to concentrate on anything other than the crippling pain in his arm, which seemed to have spread over the entire left side of his body. He had been left to consider his situation in the big picture. Only then it occurred to him how things must look for his co-workers. They didn't know about Kelly Sharp. The shots at the motel had alerted the manager, by now, the police were all over the case. When they had found Nigel's body shot with his gun, it must have been looking like had killed him. He had a motive after all. And earlier yesterday he had felt the urge to take a life. But then when he had had the chance, he had found himself unable to pull that trigger. Even under the threat for his own life, he had been unable to shot a psychopathic killer. 

What had gotten an educated upstanding woman to be involved with someone like Nigel Crane? Why had she meddled in this in the first place?  Nigel Crane had probably manipulated her when he was her patient. He had not seemed like the type who was able to manipulate anyone, but he would not have been the first ones to increase his criminal skills in prison. A lot of woman were attracted to violent offenders. Kelly Sharp might be one of them. From what she had said she had helped Nigel escape in the first place. But why? Had she thought that the two had a future, or had she thought that he was innocent?

How much gas had been in his tank? Nick tried to recall when he had had his last refill. St some point they would have to stop for gas. That would be his chance, assuming that she didn't not have a plan yet. He knew that making a run for it wa dangerous as she was till having to gun, which was now stowed away in the glove compartment. She could shot him in the back as he escaped.

When Nick glanced into the rear-view mirror he spotted a patrol car several cars behind them.  Kelly Sharp seemed not to have spotted it yet. He hoped that she wasn't going to. If his assessment was half right she would panic once she noticed that the police was after them. Unfortunately, Kelly Sharp had noticed him glancing into the mirror. She checked it for herself.

No, was all she said. She started speeding up. The worst thing to do. She was provoking violent police intervention. The acceleration of the car seemed to mirror Nick's rising fear which was on the verge of escalating into pure terror. Any police intervention which might just get them both killed. There was not much he could do about it. His wrists were bound by duct tape and he could already feel the effect of blood less show, light.-headedness, a feeling of cold. Somewhere behind them the police car turned on its sirens. At this moment, the crippling and paralysing fear dissipated and his survival instinct kicked in overriding everything else. He had to get the car to stop before they got too fast. Nick looked at the window. The area off road was even, grassy not too many rock. The decision was made in the blink of an eye. Nick flung himself against Kelly Sharp. Then it all seemed to happen at once. The car started spinning out of control, a police siren sounded, though the window Nick saw the T-rail rushing towards the car, then an incredible force flung him forwards sending a crippling pain through his upper body. 

Nick felt the determination which had kept him going for the past 8 hours disappear. All strength was suddenly gone, he felt more drained than ever before. Whatever was going on in the outside world he didn't want to know about it anymore. He just wanted to be left alone. He wanted the pain and the memories to stop. His chest hurt. There were police sirens in the background. Things were going to straighten themselves out, he thought before drifting off.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing:

Note: Thanks for the reviews so far. They have been a great motivator, as well as are all the amazing stories out here (although they always make me feel bad about my own)

On their return to the institute they were greeted far less amicably then before. Word seemed to have gotten to the director that they were thinking that someone from inside helped Nigel Crane get out. Warrick had no idea how Dr. Erickson could know that, but maybe Dr. Sharp had called and told him about what Catherine had said the other day. Or maybe they blamed the police for not having found Nigel Crane before he was murdered. Luckily there wasn't anything about Nick's alleged involvement on the news yet. But the lack of hospitality as a mere annoyance now, as they had obtained a general warrant. Their first target was Dr. Sharp's neat and orderly office. She had kept record of virtually everything.

"Hey, look at this. That's odd." Sara help up a document.

"What is it?" Warrick walked over to her.

"It's a sort off log book, each session with date, time and duration. The police report says that Nigel Crane disappeared sometime after lunch and before dinner. The session log, indicated that Nigel Crane had a session on 5pm the day he vanished. I've not read anything about that in the reports and Dr Sharp didn't mention it"

"Could be an oversight, but it could also mean that the good Doctor is hiding something. When did the session end?"

"It doesn't say, the log hasn't been filled in."

"That gives us a pretty narrow timeframe, we know that Nigel Crane was still here at 5pm and that he was gone by dinner. All entrances and exits are logged, all we need is get a list of who left during that time. I'm going to talk to our friend, the director again."

Five minutes later, Warrick was back with the list, a very long list at that. Two pages. They would have to personally verify every name on that list. Sara spoke out their common thought.

"We need a lot more manpower for that. The sheriff will have to give as a class of cadets. But he's never going to so that. For him Nick's the killer, that's all that he can see."

"I know. That's why I can't help thinking that we are wasting our time here, while we should be doing something to help Nick."

Sara nodded. A thought had been bugging her every since this whole mess started, but she had not wanted to admit it, even to herself. It felt like a betrayal to think it, let alone to say it out loud. 

~~

Catherine knew that she should go home. They had done a lot today., They had found enough evidence to get the DA to lift the warrant. Warrick and Sara had gotten back from the institute, having narrowed down the time frame of Nigel Crane's escape. And they had fairly good chances of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Nick wasn't a murderer. They still had no idea where he was or what exactly had happened, but they did know that each passing minute meant that Nick probably lost more blood. The police had started calling hospitals whether someone fitting Nick's description had been admitted but no luck. Catherine suspected that whoever killed Nigel Crane kept Nick captive, for reasons they didn't know. All this ran through Catherine's mind as she debated whether ton go home in the hopes of catching a glimpse of her daughter, or whether she should stay waiting for new. She had just decided to go home, when the office phone rang. She picked up, tensing up involuntarily, hoping that it wasn't going to be bad news.

"They found Nick." Brass came out with the pertinent piece of information.

Is he ok?

Not sure. The police said that he was involved in a car accident on

Kelly Sharp was in the vehicle with him.

"Where?"

"On I-35. That's outside our jurisdiction, but the sheriff already called. They are turning to case over to us."

"Do you know what happened?"

"Not much. Apparently  a patrol car spotted Nick's car, and followed. Soon after, the car started driving irregularly and slammed into the T-rail. The officers found both of them alive, but Nick was unconscious. He's at the hospital now, Kelly Sharp was taken to the police station to give her statement. That's about all we know right now. I'm going over to there."

"We'll meet you there."

Catherine hurried of to the break room, where she found Grissom with Warrick and Sara, reading over Dr. Sharp's records.

"They found Nick, he's alive, but in hospital. Kelly Sharp was with him. I don't know any detail, but they said something about a car accident. Brass is expecting us there to process the evidence."

Grissom who had listened passively so far, now took charge of his team.

"Sara, you and Catherine stay here and continue to work on the evidence from the motel. We need to link Kelly Sharp to the murder. Warrick you are with me and Brass."

~~

The drive was long and tense as they were time seemed to stretch to a virtual standstill. It seemed like hours had passed when they finally pulled up in front of the station. Before they got out, Grissom divided the task, aiming not to lose any more time than they already had.

"We need to process this as quickly as possible. Evidence on people is highly fragile. I'll be going to the station with Brass. If Kelly Sharp did shoot Nigel Crane, there will be evidence on her. We are also going to have a look at the car. Warrick, take an officer with you and drive to the hospital. Get whatever Nick was wearing." 

~~

Warrick couldn't exactly claim that he was thrilled at the prospect of having to checking Nick for evidence. Nick was a friend, that was what made it so difficult.  He couldn't hide behind a wall of professionalism there. he was emotionally involved because Nick was a friend.

At the hospital Warrick didn't have to wait long before, Nick's doctor, Dr. Booth had then time to talk to him.

"Hello, I'm Warrick Brown with the Las Vegas Crime lab. I'm here about Nick Stokes."

"Yes, the receptionist told me that. Mr. Stokes suffered only minor injuries in his car accident. A cracked rip, a few bruises. He also suffered a head injury and a gunshot wound, but neither are related to the crash. He was unconscious at the scene, but woke up at the hospital. He was very agitated, we had to give him a mild sedative. He was treated for blood loss and received stitches to his arm."

"You said he was shot. Did you recover a bullet?"

"No, it was a through and through shot, lower left arm. But we did recover some duct tape from his wrists and some bandages. Apparently someone had tried to treat the wound before he got to the hospital."

"I would need the tape pieces, it's potential evidence in a crime. I would need the clothes he was wearing and have a look at him as well."

"Sure, I'll send the clothes over. He might still be off from the sedative but you can visit. Room 702, down the hall to the right."

"Thanks, but one more question. You said that someone tried to treat the wound. Could he had done it himself?"

"No, one arm pierced by a bullet, heavy bleeding, it's near impossible to do a neat wrapping. By the way it was done, it looked like someone with experience treated him."

"Thanks, you've been very helpful."

~~

After Brass had introduced Grissom and himself to the local detective, a man named Morrison, he gave them the run down on what they knew.

Dr. Kelly Sharp claims that she has been the victim of s kidnapping.

She seems pretty shocked. Her story might be true. We towed in the car, I think you might want to examine it. Lots of blood on the passenger seat, a gun in the glove compartment. We checked the registration number, it's licensed to nick Stokes, the alleged kidnapper, according to Dr. Sharp.

"I'd like to talk to Dr. Sharp, we suspect that she might have been involved in a homicide earlier today."

"We still have her in the interrogation room."

Kelly Sharp looked indeed distressed. Her hair was dishevelled. Her blouse was wrinkled, blood spatter on it. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. She was nervously wringing her hands.

"Hello again, Dr. Sharp., we are here to ask you about what happened."

"Yes, I understand." She paused, trying to compose herself, but failing. Her hands were still trembling. She took a deep breath, then continued. "It was late, yesterday night, maybe like , around midnight. I had been looking through my notes from the case again. Suddenly Mr. Stokes showed up, he let him in, he said, he wanted to talk to me about the case. Suddenly he started threatening. I was afraid he was going to kill me…" Kelly Sharp out into tears again.

Brass looked at Grissom. He knew what Grissom was thinking. The whole statement and its delivery were overly dramatic, soap opera quality. Besides, the logic behind it didn't seem to solid. But impressions aside,  the evidence was going to tell them what they needed to know. Dr. Kelly Sharp certainly did fit the height the had extrapolated for Crane's killer. If she had indeed fired a gun, then GSR would be on her hands. 

"Dr. Sharp, before we continue we'd like to test your hands for gunpowder residue."

"But I didn't.."

"It's just a routine test that will help us reconstruct what happened."

Kelly Sharp nodded, unable to stop crying. She knew enough about forensics to know that it was game over for her now. She had not had a plan and whatever story she was going to tell, there would just be too much evidence of what had really happened. She wiped tears from her face. Suddenly when she had realized that it was all over, she felt relief. For the first time she knew why some killers wanted to be caught. Her thought which had been in a frenzy for so long quieted down. From now on things would take their course, she didn't have anything more to so with it. And so Kelly Sharp didn't say another word, but sat in her chair passively, watching it all unravel. And she turned her thought to thinking about when the decent, which had now ended for good had started. She didn't know and didn't care.

Brass and Grissom noted to abrupt change in her demeanour as well. She had suddenly turned calm, nit saying another word, not visibly reacting to what they said. She looked like she was far away. The test for GSR was positive as they had expected.

After that, an officer escorted her to the hospital to have her checked for any injuries she might still have sustained in the car crash. The gun, samples of the blood from the car and her blouse had been sent back to the Las Vegas crime lab for examination. In the meantime, Detective Morrison was out to get a warrant. They had enough evidence to hold her for the moment. Now it depended on what Warrick was going to find. If the witnesses were going to be silent, they evidence would have to speak for them.

~~

Warrick knocked before entering, but no answer. He slipped inside silently. At first he thought that Nick was asleep, but then he saw that Nick had noticed him coming in.

"Hey, Nick."

"Warrick, …"

"Sh, Nick. It's ok. You're going to be all right." That was at least what Warrick was hoping. They had yet to find conclusive prove of what had happened in he motel room, where Nigel crane had been found.  Warrick didn't like to admit it, but he had almost hoped that Nick would be conscious, at least that way they would have both been spared the embarrassment.

"Nick, I need to have a look at you for evidence."

"Go ahead. I know the game." Nick sounded calm.

Warrick nodded. He started working in silence, the only sounds were the faints hums and beeps flowing through the hospital corridors and rooms. Nick had turned his head to the side, away from Warrick, Warrick was trying not to look at him, but see him as just another case. It felt wrong, but the only way to remain professional and somewhat objective. When he was done, he quietly put away his field kit and sat down on a chair next to Nick. He know that the evidence needed to be processed as soon as possible. But now, something else had priority. Nick not only needed a CSI to clear him of possible murder and kidnapping charges, but also a  friend.

"I'm sorry Nick. I know it's not a good time, but can you tell me who shot you?"

"Shot? Nigel Crane was shot." Nick seemed confused. Warrick started to think that he should better put the questions off.

"The doctor told me that you had been shot in the arm."

"It was her, the psychiatrist. She wanted me to kill Nigel, but I … I couldn't." Nick's voice broke off.

"Just let it rest Nick. We'll deal with it. You need to get better first. We are all over the case."

At that moment Warrick's beeper went off. He excused himself, promising to come back later.

From the payphone in the lobby, he called Grissom. Warrick was relieved if not so say elated to hear that Dr. Sharp had tested positive for GSR. He related what he had learned from the doctor. Grissom, in spite of his normally impenetrable façade, showed relief in his voice as well. The case wasn't won, yet but they finally had the evidence they needed and with that the knowledge that a friend wouldn't go to jail for a crime he didn't commit.

Note: Fairly short this one, I know. One more chapter left to go, but that might take a few days. Sorry. Then I will definitely get back to my other fic projects that need to be finished. 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: I know it took ages for me to write that and then  ff.net wouldn't let me post. I don't really know why. Sorry. There isn't really much plot in here, it's mainly on epilogue. Hope you enjoy it anyways.

Grissom and Brass were both silent, as they mad their way to Nick's car, which the police had impounded after the accident, after their interview with Kelly Sharp. Both of them had a pretty good idea about what might have happened. Their was no doubt about the fact that she was lying. What Warrick had told them had made this clear. Nick had been the victim in this. One look at the inside of the car confirmed this. Blood was all over the passenger seat area. None in the driver's seat area. While Grissom took samples of the blood, Brass looked at the setting of the seats.

"She was driving. The seat is pushed all the way forward."

"Yeah, and look at this." Grissom had opened the glove compartment of the driver's side. "A gun. We'll dust it for prints, But it's safe to assume that Dr. Sharp's prints will be all over it. No kidnapper would let his captive drive and give her potential access to a gun."

Confident and relieved that the evidence would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Nick was innocent, they silently processed the rest of the evidence. This was a case where they were not lacking evidence. The blood at the scene and in the car, the tape from Nick's wrists, GSR found only on Dr. Sharps hands. What remained now was routine. But all the routine couldn't hide the fact that the repercussion of this case where not yet over.

.

~~

Catherine and Sara were working through the list of names from the institute. To an outside they would have seemed to be immersed in calm, concentrated work, but , on the inside, the tension had been mounting continually during the last few hours. The tedious work of checking all the people from the list of the institute would normally have been a despised chore, but now was a fairly welcome distraction.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you. Bye."

Sara hung up, after what seemed like the 50th pointless call.

"Catherine, this isn't working. Nobody is going to come right out and tell us that they have been helping Nigel Crane. So all we've got are a few no-answers, but we can hardly expect everybody to be home and picking up the phone when we call."

"I agree," Catherine said, frustration colouring her tone. "What we are looking for is someone who is on the leaving list, but didn't got in. If you think about it, assuming that Nigel Crane, left the building through the main and, as far as we know only entrance, than he had to be wearing some for of ID. And he would have to be signed out from a list, where all the incoming people are logged. It's impossible that he did it like that. There would have been nobody coming in that corresponded to whomever he was impersonating when he walked out."

"I see your point." Sara nodded. "That means we are not going to find anything on that list." She got up to get herself another cup of coffee. "You want some?"

"Would love to, but I've had too many already. You can only substitute so much coffee for sleep." Catherine yawned.

Sara turned to Catherine, her half-filled coffee cup in one hand, the pot in the other. She looked as though something had suddenly occurred to her.

"What if we are all wrong about his time of disappearance. All we have is the record of the "good doctor" to base our timeline on. We've already picked her as a potential liar, so what if she flat out lied in her schedule. She must have know that we would get a look on those eventually. The confusion after he was reported missing could have allowed him to escape. I mean there were suddenly a lot of strangers there, police. Nobody knew exactly how many. He could have just slipped through, he does look ordinary enough for people not to notice him."

"Speaking of a potential liar," Greg had suddenly appeared in the room, he had apparently been standing there for some time already. "Dr. Sharp is also Nick's pen pal. Ecklie found another unsent letter to Nick in her office. Prints on it are hers and Nigel's."

"Good." Sara said absent minded, still busy with mental calculations of potential scenarios. 

"Anything else Greg?" Catherine asked, when Greg made no move to leave the room.

"Well, we lab rats are kept totally out of the loop, so I was just wondering whether you had any news on Nick?" Greg was more concerned that his manner would let on. 

"Police said he was in an accident, but we haven't heard from Grissom and Warrick yet." Catherine felt sorry for Greg. Now that she and Sara were basically stranded with no information, she could guess what it was like to be in Greg's position.

~

Warrick was already on his way out, when he changed his mind. He had another two calls to make. There were other people out there, desperate for any information. First he called Nick's parents, hoping that Nick wouldn't mind. He had been right. By now the case had made it into the media and his parents had been worried sick. They were both shocked and relieved that their son was in hospital. The second call went to Sara and Catherine at the lab who were bound to be dying to know how things had turned out. As he had expected both were extremely relieved to hear that Nick would be all right, given some time. When,  he finally made his way back to the parking lot, Warrick marvelled who easy it was to forget about other people and how closely thoughtless bordered on cruelty.

~

Right now, Nick felt as far from all right as he could possibly feel. No, he thought, he felt  better then he had while sitting in that car with Dr. Sharp, pondering the question whether he would first bled to death or whether she would shot him first. On the physical level things had definitely improved. The pain which had nearly driven him crazy before, had now tined now to a dull ache, no doubt the work of potent painkillers. He remembered a nurse or a doctor telling him about what was wrong with his arm, but he couldn't remember and right now didn't really care about it.

While on the physical side, things were bearable, his psyche was another matter. As whatever sedative he had been given was wearing off, he was staring to feel fear creeping up again. Rationally, he knew that it was over, that he was safe now, but his emotions hadn't gotten the message yet. The memories of the motel room and the crazy drive that had followed were still painfully fresh. He couldn't place events into the proper order, everything seemed to have happened at once.

It wasn't just fear, he also felt deeply ashamed. He felt as if he had been moved back in time, being a helpless little kid.

The next morning brought some improvement. The fogginess in his head was almost gone and he was now ready to start sorting the mental imagines into a meaningful order. But that meant also that he was now more clear on what had happened and was acutely aware of the gaps in his memory. Part of him was hoping that someone from CSI was going to drop by and fill him in, being in this state of information limbo only added to his uneasiness, but another part of him was afraid to face his co-workers. On an intellectual level there was no reason for his apprehension, but knowing that they had worked the case where he had been a suspect and victim made him unsure about how to react to them and the questions they might ask him. He didn't want to be treated as a victim, it was enough that he felt like one, in spite of his efforts not to. He was also scared that they might not understand, why he had gone along so passively and reacted the way he did in that hotel room. He didn't like that everyone at CSI now knew about his display of weakness. After a bland tasting breakfast he wasn't really hungry for in the first place Warrick showed up. Even though Warrick was probably his closest friend among his co-workers, it was the one he had least wanted to see right now. He had hoped it would be Grissom, from whom Warrick didn't really expect much of an emotional response to anything, or maybe Catherine with whom he felt most comfortable working. The reason that he wasn't particularly eager to see Warrick lay in the events of the previous afternoon. Warrick had only bee doing his job, Nick didn't blame him. It was his fault that he was embarrassed when there was no real reason. Judging by the look on Warrick's face, he wasn't feeling any more comfortable than he was.

"Morning Nick. Feeling better?"

"Yes, bit tired though." Nick managed a fake smile. Truth was he wanted to crawl into a hole and not see anyone right now. A tense silence ensued, as neither of them really knew what to say. Warrick finally spoke, going for the hard facts approach.

"I talked to your Doctor again. He says you should be out of here in a couple of days, depending on how fast your arm heals. Your ribs are going to be sore for a week or two."

"Guess, I'll live. What about the case, you need my statement?"

"Don't worry about that, we have enough for the moment. The evidence clearly implicated her. Her prints on the gun, GSR on her hands, she matches the height of the shooter and she has been seen at a drugstore. Brass said you can make your statement once you are better."

Nick nodded, glad that he didn't have to go over all that had happened yet. He needed to get clear about things for himself first.

After some harmless banter about basically nothing, Warrick left Nick to his thoughts. At first Nick was relived to be alone again, but then regretted not having asked any more questions about the case. All he knew that Kelly Sharp had been arrested and he had probably been cleared of any suspicions as a consequence. At least that part of his life was okay.

~

Three days later the investigation was concluded, all the reports had been written and signed. Dr. Sharp had been denied bail at the hearing and was to remain in custody until trial. She had no said another word after her arrest. She had not admitted anything and refused to talk to a lawyer or the police. Although the evidence told them what they needed to know, Sara wasn't satisfied. It wasn't just the fact that they had not been able to prove how Nigel Crane had escaped. Their theory had remained just that, a theory which might be true, but could as well be false. Other than that, Sara felt a certain dissatisfaction. They knew what had happened, but not why and because the only person who knew refused to say anything, they might never know. To Sara it felt like the case wasn't really solved. It surprised herself, she hadn't though that she would care about the human element that much. But this wasn't her average case. Maybe she cared about the motifs and emotions involved because the case involved people she knew. A day later, Nick was released from hospital. He could have taken a few days off but declined. He needed to get back to work. Though not as work-obsessed as some of his co-workers, work was central part of his life, an area where he could have the feeling of achieving something. That feeling was what he needed now. He gladly took Warrick up on his offer to stay at his place, until he found a new apartment. Out of the question of going back to his own place. He had already considered moving when Nigel Crane had initially stalked him, but had eventually decided against it because he felt that moving was giving Nigel Crane more power than he deserved. But this time, the mere thought of going back to his house made him edgy. It wasn't so much what had happened there, it was the fact that it was a part of his privacy which had been violated. His house was an unwelcome reminder. He was glad that Warrick had made the offer without him having to ask.

Nick had been slightly apprehensive about his first day back at work. Three cases made for a very busy shift which stretched into the morning. In spite of the shit having been stressful and long, as Nick was getting ready to leave, Warrick and Sara walked up to him in the locker room.

"Hey, Nick. You are not leaving, are you?" Sara asked with a smile.

"I was, why?" Nick was confused.

"All of us were thinking about having breakfast together." Warrick said.

"It would be a real shame if you didn't come. See it as your welcome-back-to-work." Sara's smile turned into a broad grin.

"Okay." Nick followed Sara and Warrick.

The entire team was assembled at breakfast. Spirits were generally running high, everyone seemed relaxed, even Grissom, who he seemed very tense lately. Personally Nick didn't want to discuss Nigel Crane, he just wanted to forget about the whole thing and get on with his life, in peace. 

Right then, sitting at breakfast with his colleagues and friends, eating, talking and laughing, Nick felt close to all right, for the first time since the news of Nigel Crane's escape. He smiled, things were going to be okay. In that moment life was good. And suddenly it was no problem.

"Guys, can you be quiet for a sec." Nick said smiling, interruption the various ongoing conversation. "I just wanted to say, thank you for doing all the great work and proving the truth. I don't know where I'd be now without you." Everyone had been looking at him, it was the first time the case had been mentioned since the hospital. Nobody said anything for a short while.

"Well, you are here and you are a free man." Sara broke the silence, her tone light-hearted.

"I think we can toast to that happy ending." Catherine said and raised her glass.

Like everyone else, Grissom raised his glass, but his heart wasn't in it. In spite of the happy turn that the situation had taken, Grissom's joy was everything but untainted. He was unhappy with himself. His usual policy of avoiding any emotional involvement had failed in this case. Warrick had made it clear to him that he couldn't stand by the sidelines and watch a friend being convicted of a murder he had not committed. So he had gotten himself involved and had started forming expectation of the evidence. Now, things had turned out as he hoped, but what if they had not. What if the evidence had eventually proven Nick's guilt? Would his emotional connection made him less professional and thorough in that case? Grissom suspected that this would have been the case. That bothered him But what choice did he have, as the supervisor of the nightshift he had interacted with his co-workers But at the same time, he had to make sure that no mistakes were being made. To Grissom it seemed like he couldn't only lose in that game. Instead of the victory he and the rest of the team should be proud of, Grissom only felt personal defeat.

~~

Eight months later, Dr. Kelly Sharp was found guilty of second degree murder, but since according to a court psychologist she had been suffering from delusion had the time of her crime, she was to spend her sentence in an institution. being the only witness to the only witness to the crime, Nick had been obligated to appear in court as a witness. He had been far more apprehensive about this than he would have admitted to his co-workers. he should have a vested interest in seeing Kelly Sharp behind bars, but in fact, Nick just wanted to forget about the whole incident. As soon as his physical injuries had somewhat healed he had started the push the memory into the darkest corner of his mind, where the memory of other betrayals and hurts resided, some for decades already. having to appear at the trial and retell the story forced him to drag to memory back to his conscious mind. 

When the sentence was read out, Nick was surprised that it did make him feel better. Not because, he saw it as revenge, no but because now he could finally lock away the memory for good. There was just a little voice inside his head that told him that he had had the exact same thought before, when Nigel Crane had been locked up. But this time it was going to be different.


End file.
